Academy Award winner Zoe Saldaña is officially the highest-grossing actor of all time thanks to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Saldaña has starred in three of the highest-grossing films of all time, with 2009’s Avatar and its sequel 2022’s The Way of Water in first and third place, respectively, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame sandwiched between second place. She is also the first actress to appear in four films that have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War”. In addition to playing Gamora in Avatar and other Marvel Cinematic Universe films (she appeared in three Guardians of the Galaxy movies), Saldaña also played Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek trilogy, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
As of 2024, Saldaña’s worldwide box office grosses have totaled more than $14 billion, making him the third highest-grossing actor after fellow MCU stars Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. However, Saldaña was pushed to the number one spot after December’s Avatar trilogy, which has earned $1.23 billion to date. Her films have now collected a total of $15.47 billion, according to Numbers’ tally.
Saldaña had a big year in 2025. In March, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her arresting performance in Emilia Perez, making history as the first Dominican-American to win an Academy Award. This bold musical from author Jacques Audiard won the Saldaña Award at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered, as well as numerous other awards, including the SAG Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics’ Choice Award.
“It feels really good,” Saldaña recently told Variety about adding “Oscar winner” to his new prefix. “My husband (director Marco Perego Saldaña) is a very funny person. He makes this joke: ‘Well, now you can’t do anything unless people announce you as an ‘Academy Award winner.’ You can’t rob a bank because it’s like, “An Academy Award winner…” I thought, ‘Oh my god,'” she said with a laugh. “But it’s true. I’m honored. I’m very happy. I also thought, ‘OK, let’s keep working.'”
In Avatar: Fire and Ashes, Saldaña reprises her role as Na’vi warrior Neytiri, whose relationship with human soldier turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is the focus of the series’ story. The film utilizes innovative performance capture technology developed by filmmaker James Cameron to transform Afro-Latinx actors into blue-skinned, 8-foot-tall humanoids.
“The reason this world is a reality for so many people is because acting was the most important thing to Jim,” Saldaña explained. “Performance capture allows actors to rely less on everything that can be distracting in normal live action. Performance capture gives you the gift of connection and allows you to put all of your heart and energy into that scene, into that moment.”
Saldaña is scheduled to return in “Avatar 4” (scheduled for release in December 2029) and “Avatar 5” (scheduled for release in December 2031), so it is expected that he will continue to earn box office revenue.
